Britain can and must do more to attract educated and wealthy immigrants, and
“inflexible” visa rules are threatening to undermine the economy, the
Business Secretary warned today.

In an article for The Daily Telegraph, Vince Cable said “Britain simply can’t afford to miss out” on wealthy Chinese immigrants and tourists deterred by red tape.

His intervention makes public an increasingly acrimonious Cabinet row over the immigration system – particularly as it is applied to Chinese applicants.

Mr Cable and other ministers, including George Osborne, the Chancellor, believe that the system is too bureaucratic and should be relaxed for wealthier and educated applicants.

However, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, insists that changes have been made, that many complaints are unjustified and that any further relaxation of the rules could undermine national security.

In today’s article, Mr Cable said: “China is the new economic superpower and we must treat its re-emergence with respect: as an opportunity rather than a threat … Our future prosperity will depend on it.

“If we are serious about trading more with countries such as China, then we must make sure our borders are as open as possible to genuine tourism, business visitors, investment and trade.

“Yet in the last five years, our share of Chinese visitors has been dropping. With anecdotal evidence of people saying our visa system is unfriendly and inflexible, it’s no wonder that there were only 180,000 Chinese visitors to the UK in 2011, a small fraction of those going to continental Europe.”

Last month, The Daily Telegraph launched a campaign calling on the Government to simplify the rules for Chinese visitors – which the Business Secretary today said he supported. Business groups have warned that Chinese tourists, who spend an average of £1,600 per visit, are shunning Britain in favour of other European countries.

The Liberal Democrat minister’s intervention is likely to be highly unwelcome in the Home Office.

In a recent article for this newspaper, Mrs May said that Britain had a visa system “we can be proud of”.

But she added: “The continued use of spurious figures and skewed perceptions of the way we run our visa system is damaging its reputation. And it is the very people who claim to be pro-growth who are guilty of spreading this harmful message.”